Alpaca Wool

Alpaca wool is noted for its strength, warmth and smoothness. It’s less scaly than wool, making it less prickly and contains no lanolin, the cause of many wool allergies. This makes alpaca the perfect yarn if you’re knitting for a friend or family member who normally cannot enjoy woolen items.

When processed, alpaca wool is classified according to its micron count - in simple terms its softness quotient. Baby alpaca is the finest and softest classification, followed by superfine, fine and Suri. Alpaca fiber is smooth and comfortable against the skin. It is often blended with wool fibers for easier working and elasticity and each alpaca fiber is hollow, making it very lightweight.

Just choose your fiber from the range of brands, weights and colors available and we’ll already have the patterns and needle options available for you.

The alpaca belongs to the camelid family, which includes camels, llamas, guanacos and vicunas. More than three quarters of the world population of alpaca live in Peru. Indeed an Incan’s man wealth would be calculated in fabrics made from alpaca wool. So bestow a friend with some wealth by knitting them a cozy scarf, hat or gloves.

Advantages of Alpaca wool

With its special hollow structure, it’s three times warmer than sheep’s wool whilst being much more lightweight

It is resilient with some deeming it is the strongest mammal fiber

Water repellent to guard from odor and sweat and more fire repellent than other natural and synthetic alternatives

At Laughing Hens we’re an independent, family owned business, specializing in everything related to knitting and crochet. We stock a huge choice of luxury natural fibers, patterns and accessories to ensure that you have all you need to create knitting and crochet designs. See also our selection of merino wool complete with ideas for projects and everything you need to complete them. We have a loyalty scheme and offer 14-day no hassle returns.